Wednesday, 4 February 2009

Hantu & Popcorn

While in the West, speculative fictions have developed from writing as wildly diverse as Lord Dunsany’s wondrous stories and Thomas M Disch hard core Science Fiction, the history of Malaysian (English language) speculative fiction stories, remains a comparatively brief one,

Malaysia revels in legends, myths and tales drawn from the country’s multifaceted and multicultural past.Malaysian folklore is steeped in stories gleaned from Hinduism, Islam and ancient animism.Echoes of tales, and stories from indigenous tribes peoples sit, sarong clad, knee to knee with those dropped en passant by Dutch, Portuguese and English settlers - though many tales are only available through the Malay language.

Aside from Malay horror, fluffy pink Malay romances make up the rest of the popularist publishing market, giving teen and twenty girls insights into romantic worlds they will only encounter in such books and magazines, unless they lounge soaking up the cool air-con in cinemas projecting the latest Hindi or Tamil romantic masala movies.

The ghoulish national obsession for ghosts, spirits and all manner of supernatural flying, crawling and creeping beings permeates throughout Malaysian popular culture, and is easily available in low cost magazines and cheap thrill books.Over the last few decades such fictions have gnawed and clawed their way into a growing Malay comic book industry which, like the ‘pulp’ magazines, feeds extensively from local legend and lore.

Comparatively little in the way of other speculative fictions exists, save for one magazine - Gempak(Shocking).This innovative Malay language magazine styles itself as ‘The Magazine for the New Generation’.As a teen orientated compendium Gempak features local and Manga influenced comic book material serials such as Helios Eclipse by Kaoru, as well as film reviews, the latest TV news, Game reviews, general articles and interviews.

Aside from comics and those compact pulp-like magazines depicting ‘real’ or fictionalised ghost stories there has been one, long running, Malay language, series of horror books.

During the 1980s Tamar Jalis (a pseudonym) produced a number of horror stories for a magazine called Variasari.These spooky and quite graphically gruesome stories were compiled into book form, later called Bercakap Dengan Jin (Talking to Demons).Somewhere in the region of 200 horror-story books (in Malay) were produced over a number of series and years.

In 1957 Cathay Keris Films made Pontianak (Vampire), then came Serangan Orang Minyak(Attack of the Oily Man) by Cathy Keris Films in 1958.Sumpah Orang Minyak (Curse of the Oily Man) by Malay Film Productions ltd followed in 1958, while Cathay Keris Films made Sumpah Pontianak(Curse of the Vampire) also in 1958.

More recent Malay horror films resemble the 1950s/60s British Hammer films, of which there has been a contemporary upsurge with films like Rahsia (The Secret, 1980s) and the infamous Pesona Pictures horror films - Pontianak harum sundal malam ( Restless Vampire, 2004), and its sequel the following year, with Waris jari hantu (The legacy of the Ghost Finger, 2007), Dukun (Witch Doctor) also in 2007 and Histeria (Hysteria) in 2008.

English language Malaysian speculative fictions have proven to be a slow emerging field.

Though living in Tasmania, Tunku Halim (pseudonym), writes mainly for the Malaysian horror market, and has, seemingly, taken the lead in English language horror writing, with novels like ‘Dark Demon Rising’, (1997) and short story collections such as ‘44 Cemetery Road’ short stories (2007).Because of the consistency of his work, and there being no contenders for his crown, Tunku Halim reigns supreme as the Stephen King of Malaysia.

Competition is slow to challenge Tunku Halim, but in recent years the anthology volumes Dark City (2006) and Dark City 2 (2007) edited by Xeus (Lynette Kwan) - published by Midnight Press have intended to do just that.

Dark City: Psychotic and other Twisted Malaysian Tales is a compendium of writing, ranging from terror to horror and suspense.Dark City 2, its sequel, incorporates storylines from a man learning to kill, 15th century angels, the intense agony of entombment and the bitter sweetness of man’s revenge for the death of his wife and son.

While English language speculative fictions, in Malaysia, may be slow to take off in novel or short story format, their august and illustrative presence may be felt within the Malaysian comic book medium.Well fed on diets of Superman, Spiderman and Batman today’s Malaysian twenty, and thirty somethings, are well versed in reading speculative sequential art.

The Malaysian comic book industry, fledgling in the 1980s is beginning to come of age in the 2000s. As well as re-producing Japanese and Chinese Manga forms in English and Malay, the Malaysian comic bookindustry is generating stunning new works by Malaysian writers and artists, many of whom are currently also involved in the American comic book industry.

Works by artist/writers like Leong Wan Kok (aka Puyuh – quail) bring fresh dimensions to the Science Fiction and horror genres with images such as Astro Hunter, graphic novels such as Astro Cityzen (2006) and From a Twisted Mind ( 2008).

The new magazine ‘Popcorn’ represents a fresh type of comics magazine for Malaysia, in English. It is modelled on Marvel’s Epic comics magazine and Heavy Metal (French - Metal Hurlant).This young adult comic magazine promises to bring the very best of S.E.Asian and Malaysia comics material to an eagerly waiting, knowledgeable, general public.

This then may be the future of Malaysian speculative fictions – comics and graphic novels.

2 comments:

A lively snap shot of Malay "Pulp Fiction" for the uninitiated, it will go a long way in making sense of books one sees in the Malay language, of Malay authors writing in English (In this genre) and hopefully help those of us passing through this amazing land to pick up some good reading for a nice thundery afternoon in Malaysia.

Very interesting stuff. I'm with a Chennai publisher, Blaft, that recently brought out a compilation of Tamil Pulp Fiction in English translation. Might you be able to put us on to a potential translator to do something similar for Bahasa? We're interested in the graphic novels and English horror too. Drop a line: blaft@blaft.com

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about me

Martin Bradley is a freelance author and researcher. He is, at times, an Art Critic, writer, graphic designer and exhibitions curator, currently based in Malaysia.

Martin has a Master's Degree in Art History and Theory from the University of Essex, England and a Master's Degree in Gallery Studies (Exhibitions and Displays) also from the University of Essex. His first degree was in Philosophy and he has diplomas in Art & Design and Graphic Design. He is currently studying for his third Master's Degree and finished a Creative Writing course with the Writer's Centre Norwich (UK).

He is the author of a collection of poetry - Remembering Whiteness and Other Poems (2012) Bougainvillaea Press; a charity travelogue - A Story of Colors of Cambodia, which he also designed (2012) EverDay and Educare; a collection of his writings for various magazines called Buffalo and Breadfruit (2012) Monsoon Books; an art book for the Philippine artist Toro, called Uniquely Toro (2013), which he also designed, also has written a history of pharmacy for Malaysia, The Journey and Beyond (2014).

Martin is currently writing a book about Modern Chinese Art with a notable Chinese artist from the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China.

He is the founder-editor of The Blue Lotus formerly Dusun an e-magazine dedicated to Asian art and writing, founded in 2011. Also the founder of Northern Writers, a venue for writers to read in northern Malaysia. He is a Consultant for Malaysian students regarding creative writing, and Consultant to Zhe Xuan Gallery, also in Kuala Lumpur.

Martin was invited to read his poetry in Siem Reap, Cambodia (2013) and to The Philippines (twice in 2013). He was short story prize winner in the Warren Adler (USA) competition (2012) and invited to Delhi, India (2010) to read his poetry at the Commonwealth Writers Meet, he also had his Melvyn the Bomoh story serialised in the Australian webzine Specusphere (2009).

My Books

The Journey and Beyond

Community Pharmacy in Malaysia....my latest book (2015)

Uniquely Toro

Filipino artist Toro, a retrospective (2013)

A Story of Colors of Cambodia

Follow Honey Khor as she charity volunteers for the first time with Colors of Cambodia (2012)

Buffalo & Breadfruit

The trials and tribulations of an expat, 7 thousand miles from home (2012)